As fans of old-time
movie serials will already know, chapter 15 is the one in which the
toils and travails of our band of heroes are resolved, battles are
fought and won, and everything turns out all right in the end. Could
our very own 'Galactic Gil' and 'Tony Tomorrow' achieve a sensation
at this 15th celebration of film fright, fantasmagoria and far-flung
fancy, in hosting and staging a festival to top their previous endeavours?

Every bit as eager as a returning Saturday morning
picture show crowd, many of the regulars were back at the 2004 event
to find out. Not that any of us doubted the organisers for a moment
- throw any number of challenges or obstacles at these guys or their
stalwart behind-the-scenes back-up team, and they simply brush off
the problems to make sure that the show goes on. As for ourselves,
attendees both experienced and novice found we had to negotiate and
acclimatise to a new venue for this year's festivities, but the Manchester
Conference Centre won plenty of praise during the weekend - raked
cinemas, comfortable seats, working elevators (those of you who remember
Sacha's Hotel will know why I single out the lifts for particular
attention!) and splendid bar and breakfast facilities had many fans
keen to return to this same spot in the future.

Naturally, as in past years, fate had to step
in at some point. I had been scheduled to present the live interview
with British t.v. and movie legend Peter Graham Scott, producer of
THE ONEDIN LINE, director of CAPTAIN CLEGG, driving force behind the
marvellous CHILDREN OF THE STONES, on the final afternoon - no sooner
had myself and party arrived at the hotel, however, than Tony relayed
the shocking news that several members of Mr. Scott's family had been
involved in a road accident, which sadly had proved fatal for Peter's
son. In typical festival spirit, as many of us as possible signed
a card offering our condolences on this tragic occurrence; equally
typically, Peter sent along a message of regret that he could not
attend for obvious reasons, but stating that he would love to be invited
to the 2005 fest.

Even without this titan of television and film
fantasy, the guest line-up was stellar even by previous standards.
Writer/director Tudor Gates made a more than welcome second appearance,
here again to discuss his work in Italy with Mario Bava and on Vadim's
classic BARBARELLA, before reminiscing about his Hammer days and the
Karnstein vampire trilogy he penned for the company. Interviewed by
Wayne Kinsey, whose Hammer knowledge is seriously second to none,
Tudor seemed at ease and delighted to be back among a friendly throng
of devotees, and talked at length about the prospect of a fourth Karnstein
movie, to have been entitled 'Vampire Virgins', as well as the troublesome
aspects of working with the non-English-speaking Collinson sisters
on his wonderful TWINS OF EVIL.

More Hammer vampires came under the spotlight
when Gil spoke to the delightful Yvonne Monlaur, whose presence during
the entire weekend gave an air of continental sophistication to the
entire affair. Yvonne's own hesitant English only seemed to endear
her to us all the more, and she can be added to the increasingly long
list of guests who have had nothing but immense praise and respect
for that gentleman of horror Peter Cushing, who protected her from
the curse of Baron Meinster in Terence Fisher's majestic BRIDES OF
DRACULA way back in 1960. Equally glamorous was lovely Madeline Smith,
every inch the film star as she glided into the hotel around noon
on Sunday, a vision in pink - Wayne again proved the perfect host,
as Madeline spoke freely and candidly about her work on THE VAMPIRE
LOVERS, UP POMPEII, LIVE AND LET DIE and FRANKENSTEIN AND THE MONSTER
FROM HELL. Insisting that everyone should call her 'Maddy', she was
keen to talk about any aspect of her life or career, from her somewhat
sheltered upbringing, to her discovery while working at Biba in the
60s, and even her co-star Frankie Howerd's penchant for extras dressed
as Roman soldiers! During a lively q&a session, she seemed pleasantly
surprised to find out that a few of us were fans of Roddy McDowall's
little-seen masterwork TAM LIN, and spoke of how greatly she admired
Roddy's talent as a director on what turned out to be his only film
behind the camera. Maybe this neglected gem of a movie could be unearthed
and screened at the Festival some time?

By general consensus, though, the hit of the weekend
was the Saturday night turn by Boba Fett himself, Mr. Jeremy Bulloch.
Not so much an interview, more a brief intro by Gil followed by a
well-honed but thoroughly entertaining hour of stand-up by the self-effacing
Bulloch, full of anecdotes about STAR WARS conventions ("mah
grandmother cuhldda played that part!"), the strangeness of seeing
yourself being marketed as all manner of collectable plastic toys
(Jeremy confessed to owning a vast selection of 'Boba Fett' merchandise
himself!), his rare starring role in 1974 sex comedy CAN YOU KEEP
IT UP FOR A WEEK? (appearing in a West End play alongside Dorothy
Tutin at the time, Jeremy was appalled when his co-star announced
she was going to see the film!) and his odd audition for Dennis Waterman's
drama THE WORLD CUP: A CAPTAIN'S TALE (consisting of a full-scale
game of football - whoever was left on the pitch at the final whistle
got the part!). There was even an hilarious 'audience participation'
section whereby three hapless volunteers were auditioned, Bulloch
coercing them into mimicking the moves, stance, and dialogue of his
EMPIRE STRIKES BACK character. Adrian James impressed us all with
his Sylvester Stallone-like reading, although another familiar festivalgoer,
Dave Gold, failed to make the grade and was described by Jeremy as
looking like "a gardener"! Imagine our guest's surprise
when he found out later that Dave and he had both appeared in Lindsay
Anderson's O LUCKY MAN thirty years ago!

The usual auction hi-jinks took place on Saturday,
with President Ramsey presiding as ever. With the rise of DVD, one
might have expected a tidal wave of old-fashioned videocassettes (blimey,
remember when they were 'the future'?) being off-loaded by upgraders,
but fortunately Mr. Campbell avoided being buried neck-high in a pile
of black plastic and magnetic tape. Despite the hotel instruction
that no alcohol was permitted within the main auditorium, Ramsey managed
to struggle through, replenished by the contents of a mysterious carrier
bag smuggled in by his good lady Jenny. Honestly, dear old Captain
Clegg would have been proud.

Local Salford music legends The Fall sang of "Futures
And Pasts" on their debut album back in 1978, and this was very
much the theme of the Festival's film programme for the weekend. The
sterling work of enthusiastic film archivist Gerald Price has provided
the backbone for the event's retrospective strand for many years,
and he didn't disappoint this time out - among the old-time gems screened
by Gerald and equally ardent projectionist Tony Meadows were such
greats as THE UNINVITED, FACE BEHIND THE MASK, THE DEVIL COMMANDS
and THE TESTAMENT OF DR. MABUSE, as well as several items from the
trashier end of the vintage market, including CAT WOMEN OF THE MOON,
DICK TRACY MEETS GRUESOME and TERROR IN THE HAUNTED HOUSE. Gerald's
16mm print of the latter was said to include the famous 'subliminal
images' intended to provoke and stimulate the audience's mood - I
must admit, I failed to spot the single-frame glimpses of knives,
axes, skulls, and words such as 'BLOOD' and 'KILL' during the screening,
but as our host explained, the whole point of the effect is that you
don't actually register these sights, but merely sense that you have
witnessed something you shouldn't have. Every year, the special guests
at the Festival are presented with the Society Of Fantastic Films
International Award, for services to fantasy cinema - Gerald Price
himself was given a Soffia this time around, the committee showing
their appreciation for all the effort he has put in, keeping the good
old days alive and fresh in our minds, turning up year after year
with reels of tantalising 16mm material for our entertainment. Anyone
who can come rushing excitedly into the hotel lobby to announce a
surprise screening of the short film DIZZY DETECTIVES (the 3 Stooges
versus a gorilla) deserves such recognition!

As for the newer, more contemporary section of
the programme, the independent and amateur films in competition reportedly
offered an even higher standard than usual. Robert Pratten's LONDON
VOODOO was a deserved winner in the 'independent feature' category
- this dark tale of an urban environment being overturned by supernatural
forces and ritual magic is the best British voodoo movie since Stanley
Goulder's NAKED EVIL - and although I missed most of the shorts myself,
I heard nothing but praise for the Italian movie E.D.E.N., which adds
a thought-provoking climactic twist to its standard sf premise about
a spaceship threatening destruction of the planet Earth. Also screened
was the first feature produced by German DVD label Anolis Entertainment
- aside from the spectacular work they've done on the Hammer back
catalogue, as exhibited with an airing for FRANKENSTEIN AND THE MONSTER
FROM HELL, Anolis' very own TEARS OF KALI was presented as a midnight
show on the opening night, to some acclaim.

One of the most encouraging elements of the weekend
was the variety of new talent on display, be it young filmmakers or
people exhibiting their skills in other artistic fields. From my own
home town of Derby, director Owen Tooth and writer Adam Marsh both
attended the festival to show their disturbing CONCEPTUAL in competition
- I may be biased in my view, as the filmmakers are friends of mine,
but I see a lot of short films and this stands as one of the best
I've encountered in years, a simple tale of a girl wandering through
a strange photo gallery, climaxing in a genuinely unpredictable finale
which can literally be described as 'sick'!

I was equally impressed by James Riley, an impossibly
young movie buff who presented an in-depth analysis of Herk Harvey's
CARNIVAL OF SOULS and followed up with an early-hours double-bill
comprising SPECTREMAN VS THE KILLER SMOG and THE ONE ARMED BOXER VS
THE MASTER OF THE FLYING GUILLOTINE to keep night owls transfixed
midway through the weekend. James' confidence, coupled with an obvious
love of offbeat and weird visual entertainment, bodes extremely well,
and if he's back at next year's event I for one will definitely check
out any presentations he may introduce.

Perhaps most striking of the new breed, however,
was the promo video for a remarkable new drum'n'bass/dance track,
'Racing Green' by High Contrast, shown twice during the weekend. What's
this got to do with Fantastic Films, you may ask? Well, the video
features heaps of imagery inspired by Stanley Kubrick's THE SHINING,
containing frequent shots of a small boy frantically pedalling a tricycle
around an empty hotel and confronting two mysterious and sinister-looking
twin girls. Plus, more importantly, it's the work of one Lincoln Barrett.
Those of us who were around in the early days of the festival will
recall that our old friend Paul Barrett used to bring his young son
Linc along - although Paul is still a high-profile presence each year,
Linc has dropped out of the film scene to concentrate on building
a successful career in music, and on the evidence of this work, recorded,
written, and filmed by himself, his High Contrast project looks set
to take off. According to Paul, the video has already been accepted
for broadcast by MTV - let's hope for some well-deserved success for
one of our own.

I'm sure everyone at the festival will join me
in wishing to thank Tony and Gil, and the rest of the usual suspects,
for another truly amazing weekend. Hope to see you all at next year's,
same time, same place (?), same channel.